What’s the Big Idea?
Christine Lashley is known for colorful and dramatic oils that marry strong design with a process infused with artistic risk-taking. As she told us in an interview, keeping the “big idea” in mind and trusting intuition [...]
Salon Winners Announced
Artist Lori Putnam, the 10th Annual PleinAir Salon Grand Prize Winner, has revealed her selections for the March 2025 PleinAir Salon art competition. Scroll down to see the top three winning paintings and read Lori’s comments on the [...]
What’s YOUR Story?
What's the difference between one painting that mesmerizes and captivates, and another that barely catches a glance? Some say it's skill or technique, but if that were all that mattered, why would so many technically [...]
Best Books for Artists, Part Two
This is PART 2 of our roundup of the best and most inspiring books for artists. You can read PART 1 here. We’re open to hearing your picks, so if we missed your faves please [...]
How Not to ‘Win’ Your Painting
Novelist Kurt Vonnegut liked to tell a story about something someone said to him as a fifteen-year-old kid that eventually enabled him to become the imaginative writer he became. He was on an archeological dig [...]
A DEEP CONNECTION TO NATURE
Patrick Faile grew up in rural South Carolina where he developed a deep connection to nature and wildlife. He discovered art at a young age and thrived in his only formal art education through the [...]
Finding Common Ground
Clyde Aspevig teaches his oil painting approach and technique in his video, ASPEVIG. “Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire.” ― Gustav Mahler Life’s complex. Nothing is as simple as we’d like, and that [...]
Best Books for Artists, Part One
This series started as "The 5 Most Inspiring" books for artists, but the list has gone beyond that number now. This is the first in the ongoing series. #1. The Art Spirit, by Robert Henri [...]
Loosen Up!
How does he do it? Well, sometimes he trades a brush for a squeegee. Learn how from his instructional video, Painting with Intuition. “Loose as ashes,” a friend of mine, Don Oulette used to say. [...]
A Portrait Technique that Checks All the Boxes
By Contributing Writer Rob Silverman Convincing likeness, check! Good composition, check! You need not be an award-winning artist, check! We’ve all seen demos by accomplished portrait artists that begin with a perfect drawing, followed by [...]